Sale of UK's Observer, world's oldest Sunday newspaper and a bastion of liberal values, is agreed
The sale of the Observer, the world’s oldest Sunday newspaper and a bastion of liberal values in Britain’s media landscape, has been approved, despite two days of strike action from journalists this week
LONDON — The sale of the Observer, the world's oldest Sunday newspaper and a bastion of liberal values in Britain's media landscape, was approved Friday despite two days of strike action from journalists this week.
The Scott Trust, the owner of the Guardian Media Group, which includes the Observer and its sister paper the Guardian, said the sale to Tortoise Media is expected to be signed in the coming days.
The Scott Trust said it will invest in Tortoise Media, becoming a key shareholder, and take a seat on both its editorial and commercial boards.
Under the terms of the deal, Tortoise will invest 25 million pounds ($32 million) in the Observer, which was founded in 1791 and became part of the Guardian Media Group in 1993, and has committed to continue its Sunday print edition and build up its digital brand.
It has also committed to safeguarding journalistic freedom and the editorial independence of the Observer, undertaking to honor the “liberal values and journalistic standards” of the Scott Trust in its editorial code.
Tortoise was launched in 2019 by James Harding, a former editor of the London Times and director of news at the BBC, and the former U.S. ambassador to London, Matthew Barzun.
Harding said the Observer name represents “the best of liberal, pioneering journalism,” and promised readers that «we will do all we can to live up to its history as a defender of human dignity and to give it a new lease of life as a powerful, progressive voice in the world.”
Ole Jacob Sunde, who chairs the Scott Trust, said the
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